The

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

Junior WRC, also known as JWRC and previously known as Junior World Rally Championship, is an international

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

competition restricted to drivers under 29 years old. The championship currently consists of five select rallies of the FIA

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

(WRC) calendar. The category has been a stepping stone in the careers of WRC Champion

Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Champions ...

Dani Sordo Daniel "Dani" Sordo Castillo (born 2 May 1983) is a Spanish rally driver. He competes in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. He achieved his first WRC victory at the 2013 Rallye Deutschland. Career Sordo began in motocross whe ...

Elfyn Evans Elfyn Rhys Evans (born 28 December 1988) is a Welsh rally driver. He is currently teamed with Scott Martin and is competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the World Rally Championship. Career The son of 1996 British Rally Championship Champion ...

and

Thierry Neuville Thierry Jean Neuville (born 16 June 1988) is a Belgian rally driver who is competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. During his career, he has finished as runner-up in the drivers' championship five times (2013, 2016–201 ...

. Junior WRC differs from the WRC support championships,

WRC2 The FIA WRC2 (previously also known as World Rally Championship 2 and WRC 2), is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the main class and crews usually compete immediately ...

and

WRC3 The FIA WRC3 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after WRC2 entrants. Entry into WRC3 is limited to cars th ...

, as the competition is managed and promoted by M-Sport Poland under contract to the FIA. All cars are identical, provided and serviced by M-Sport on the entrants' behalf. The car used in 2022 was a Ford Fiesta Rally3. Championship titles are awarded to the winning Driver and Co-Driver. The FIA did not award Junior WRC champion titles in the 2022 season. Instead, the titles of FIA WRC3 Junior were awarded to the winners of the Junior WRC competition run by M-Sport.

History

The championship's origins began in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

as the FIA Super 1600 Drivers' Championship, and included six events in Europe.

Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He h ...

was the series' champion, driving a

Super 1600 Super 1600, also known as S1600, is a rally car formula that was primarily used in the Junior World Rally Championship between 2001 and 2010, as well as international rallycross championships and various national rally championships. Any automobil ...

Citroën Saxo The Citroën Saxo was a supermini produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1996 to 2004. It was sold in Japan as the Citroën Chanson, because Honda had registered the "Saxo" name. As a badge engineered variant of the Peugeot 106 (whi ...

. The series became the Junior World Rally Championship the following year, with an upper age limit of 29 introduced in 2003. In 2007, the championship did not include events outside Europe. Following introduction of a rule in 2006 surrounding use of the word 'world' in championships, the championship was known as the FIA Junior Rally Championship (JRC) for one season only. The 2010 season was the last Junior World Rally Championship. In 2011, the FIA replaced the championship with the WRC Academy Cup but did not award FIA titles. This was the first year the championship was managed under contract. M-Sport provided identical

Ford Fiesta R2 The Ford Fiesta Rally4 is a rally car developed and built by M-Sport to Group Rally4 regulations and designed for competition in the fourth tier of the Rally Pyramid. It is based upon the Ford Fiesta road car and is the updated version of the Ford ...

cars to entrants to use. In 2013 the series was renamed to FIA Junior WRC. In 2014, Citroën were awarded the contract to run Junior WRC providing

Citroën DS3 R3T The DS 3 (formerly known as Citroën DS3 and DS 3 Crossback) is a luxury supermini initially produced by the French automobile manufacturer Citroën and officially launched in January 2010. This was the first and entry-level model from the DS ...

cars.

M-Sport M-Sport is an auto racing team and motorsport engineering company headquartered at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom. Formed in 1979 by the World Rally Championship driver Malcolm Wilson, and originally known as ...

repurposed the old Ford Fiesta R2 units for the

Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy The Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy (also known as the Drive DMACK Cup in 2014) was a complementary series to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) held since 2014 till 2016 WRC seasons. Drivers used the same cars produced by M-Sport - Ford Fiesta R2 a ...

. In 2017, M-Sport regained the running rights continuing to use the Ford Fiesta R2. Following the introduction of the

Rally Pyramid The FIA Rally Pyramid is the collective description and organisation of championships, car performance classes and driver aptitude in international rallying. In 2019 the FIA rally commission presented a radical overhaul to the rally pyramid to int ...

in 2019, the latest evolution Ford Fiesta Rally4 was introduced for the second round of the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

season. At the 2018 season the number of rallies were reduced to 5, while the last rally gives double points. In March 2021 the FIA announced there will not be any two-wheel drive championships in WRC from 2022. It was later announced Rally3 cars would be used for Junior WRC from then on. The FIA title for 2022 was called WRC3 Junior, however for 2023, Junior WRC will be restored.

Rules

The Junior WRC is open to drivers under the age of 29 who have not competed as a Priority 1 (P1) driver in an FIA

event. Competitors drive identical Ford Fiesta Rally4 cars using

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer and is focused on the consumer production of tyre ...

tyres A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...

. There is no obligation to enter a minimum number of rounds and all rounds contribute to the championship points tally. The point-scoring system based on classification is the same as in the WRC, WRC2 and WRC3 championships, with points allocated to the top ten classified finishers as follows: The last rally in the season awards double classification points to competitors who have started at least 3 previous rounds. Power Stage points are not awarded in Junior WRC as in the other WRC championships, however JWRC competitors can score one championship bonus point for each stage win during the season. The Nations Trophy sums points of the best performing driver from each nation each round, not including stage points.

Results

Drivers' Championship

Statistics

;By driver's country ;By manufacturer

Gallery

Image:S16 fd ford.jpg,

François Duval François Duval (born 18 November 1980) is a Belgian rally driver. Career 1999–2004 Francois Duval is the son of former rally driver Rene Duval. With victories in four events Duval won the Belgian Citroën Saxo Challenge title in 1999. He b ...

driving a Ford Puma S1600 at the 2001

Rally Finland Rally Finland (formerly known as the Neste Rally Finland, Neste Oil Rally Finland, 1000 Lakes Rally and Rally of the Thousand Lakes; fi, Suomen ralli, sv, Finska rallyt) is a rally competition in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The ra ...

. Image:S16 sl citroen.jpg,

driving his

VTS S1600 in 2001. Image:S16 ad fiat.jpg,

Fiat Punto The Fiat Punto is a supermini car (B-segment) produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1993 to 2018, spanning over three generations. The third generation of the car was marketed between 2005 and 2009 as the Grande Punto, and between 2009 ...

S1600 at the 2001 Rally Finland. Image:Nicolas Bernardi - 2004 Rally Finland.jpg,

Renault Clio The Renault Clio () is a supermini car (B-segment), produced by French automobile manufacturer Renault. It was launched in 1990, and entered its fifth generation in 2019. The Clio has had substantial critical and commercial success, being consis ...

S1600 at the 2004 Rally Finland. Image:Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 (JWRC Saison 2004).jpg, 2004

Suzuki Ignis The is an automobile nameplate that was first produced by Suzuki in 2000 as a subcompact car, replacing the Suzuki Cultus, and subsequently as a crossover-styled city car from 2016. The Cultus retailed under various names globally, notably as t ...

S1600 at an auto show in 2003. Image:Saxony rally racing Opel Corsa Super 1600 14 (aka).jpg,

Opel Corsa The Opel Corsa is a supermini car engineered and produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel since 1982. Throughout its existence, it has been sold under a variety of other brands owned by General Motors (most notably Vauxhall, Chev ...

S1600 driven in 2005. Image:Tapio Suominen Rally Finland.jpg,

Suzuki Swift The is a supermini car (B-segment) produced by Suzuki. The vehicle is classified as a B-segment marque in the European single market, a segment referred to as a supermini in the British Isles. Prior to this, the "Swift" nameplate had been app ...

S1600 at the

2007 Rally Finland The ''57th Neste Oil Rally Finland'' was the 9th round of the 2007 World Rally Championship. It was run on 2–5 August 2007 and based in Jyväskylä, Finland. Results Retirements * Kristian Sohlberg - rolled (SS2); * Jari-Matti Latva ...

. Image:Elfyn Evans-2007 Wales Rally GB 001.jpg,

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

ST at the

2007 Wales Rally GB The 2007 Wales Rally GB (formally known as 63rd Wales Rally of Great Britain) was the 16th round of the 2007 World Rally Championship. The race was held over three days between 30 November and 2 December 2007. Report Sébastien Loeb became world ...

. Image:Sébastien Ogier - 2008 Rallye Deutschland 3.jpg,

with a

Citroën C2 The Citroën C2 is a supermini that was produced by the French manufacturer Citroën, with production starting August 2003. It replaced the Citroën Saxo and was built at the Aulnay plant, on the outskirts of Paris. The Citroën C2 was discontin ...

S1600 in

2008 Rallye Deutschland The 2008 Rallye Deutschland was the tenth round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The event ran from August 15 to August 17 and was won by Sébastien Loeb for the seventh consecutive year. The rally marked the first time a driver had wo ...

. Image:Martin Prokop - 2009 Cyprus Rally 2.jpg,

Martin Prokop Martin Prokop (born 4 October 1982) is a Czech rally driver. He won the Junior World Rally Championship in the 2009 season. Career After competing in the Czech Rally Championship for four years, Prokop debuted in the World Rally Championsh ...

with a

S1600 at the

2009 Cyprus Rally The 2009 Cyprus Rally, officially ''37th FxPro Cyprus Rally'', was the third round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and was held between March 13 and March 15, 2009 in Limassol, Cyprus. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed the title ...

References

External links

Junior WRC at WRC.com
{{FIA *Junior Rally racing series Recurring sporting events established in 2001